


Mission....Possible?

by Aria_Lerendeair



Series: Alec Lightwood Birthday Bash 2020 [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alec Lightwood can dance, Alec Lightwood is a diaster gay, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Meeting while working, alternate first meeting, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27588617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria_Lerendeair/pseuds/Aria_Lerendeair
Summary: When Izzy strikes out at distracting someone as a part of a drug exchange they're trying to prevent - she plans to send Jace in to flirt with the Seelie.  Alec, well-aware of how his parabatai flirts, decides that they need something more subtle and makes the judgment call to do it himself.Little does he know, Magnus Bane is watching.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Alec Lightwood Birthday Bash 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2016725
Comments: 19
Kudos: 468





	Mission....Possible?

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous prompted: Hey there Aria! You requested prompts for Alec’s birthday and here is my humble submission. Pre-canon Alec being accidentally good at flirting. Imagine them all on a mission and Izzy for once struck out. Jace is all set to be Jace and stampede in there, but its really important that they be all spy like on this one for reasons. Cue Alec suddenly having an epic moment of dissociation and is all "Witness Me!" and just nails it. Everyone is shocked. But more importantly, one Magnus Bane was there.
> 
> Written for the Alec Lightwood Birthday Bash 2020!

Alec frowned at the sight of Isabelle walking back towards them, shaking her head. He cursed under his breath and waited until she was closer before taking a sip of his drink, smiling at her. "No go?“ 

  
Isabelle shook her head again. "No. He didn’t even register me. I don’t think that I’m his type, and we need to move quickly. If they are planning a handoff tonight, we need him distracted.” 

  
“Right,” Alec said, glancing over at Jace. "You think…“ he winced at the thought of his parabatai’s flirting and knew that it would also immediately come off as suspicious. (And if a dark part of him wanted to avoid seeing Jace flirt with another man, even if it was a Seelie, that would be great.) 

  
"I think we need to send Jace in,” Isabelle said with a sigh. "I’ll let him know, and let him know that we need to be subtle.“ 

  
Alec nodded to her and watched her turn on a heel to face Jace, her face growing serious. All it took was the sight of Jace’s cocky grin for him to make a decision. They couldn’t afford to screw this up, and Jace going in like his usual brash self wasn’t going to work. 

  
He downed the rest of his drunk and fixed his eyes on their target on the dance floor. They needed to keep their mark distracted, and they needed to do it in a way that wasn’t suspicious. Alec took a deep breath and shoved the insecurities out of the way. They couldn’t afford to let them get away again. 

  
He stepped past Izzy and Jace, neither of them registering him as he moved down to the dance floor. Alec remembered the list of things Izzy always rattled off for how to appear more approachable as she did what she did best. 

  
"Relax your shoulders,” he whispered to himself, letting his posture slouch. "Shorten your stride.“ That was easy enough in the crowd. "Don’t hunch, meet people’s eyes. _Smile.”_ He moved closer to the edge of the dance floor and could feel people looking at him, but that was the point. He wanted them to look. 

  
He could hear the last rule as though Izzy had spoken it in his ear. Once you had their attention? _Keep it._ Alec lifted his eyes to the Seelie they were tracking and met his eyes, letting the look linger before he started to move, slowly, dancing on the edges of the dance floor. 

  
~!~

  
The sight of three Shadowhunters entering his club was always cause for concern, but thankfully, Magnus had received a fire message from the Acting Head of the Institute informing him that they would be attempting to prevent a drug exchange. It had been a gratifying warning, and one he didn’t usually expect from Shadowhunters, but he had been able to warn his people off of them, to tell them the Shadowhunters were safe, and keep them under Pandemonium’s glamour. 

  
He tracked the tall one as he walked towards the dance floor. If they’d bothered to come to talk to him, he would have told them that the lady, dressed to impress, even here, would have struck out with their target. But…

  
Magnus’ eyes shifted to the shadowhunter melting through the crowd, his eyes narrowed and assessing. He watched as the posture screaming “Shadowhunter” almost fell off of him piece by piece until he had the attention of many around him. Standing up, Magnus moved towards the stairs. He might as well be on hand to watch the show in case anything happened. 

  
His mouth went dry as the Shadowhunter started to dance. 

  
~!~

  
Alec was glad that he didn’t have to wait long before the Seelie was stepping in close to him. He took a deep breath and let himself relax as strong arms came around his waist, and there was a body pressed up and against him. The Seelie was shorter than him, but not by much. Alec raised an eyebrow and started to move again, this time in tandem with the Seelie. 

  
“Well, aren’t you the prettiest thing I ever did see?”

  
“Thank you,” Alec managed, letting their eyes meet again. This was always where he struggled the most. "You’re, you’re beautiful.“ 

  
The Seelie laughed. "Why thank you. Are you new at this?” 

  
Alec seized the excuse to be a little awkward with his flirting. "Yeah,“ he whispered, faking a shiver as the Seelie pressed closer, catching sight of Jace and Izzy moving out of the corner of his eyes. "But you were so, I…” he swallowed and met the Seelie’s eyes again. "I had to come over.“ 

  
"Well,” The Seelie purred. "I’m always happy to… _educate."_

  
An uncomfortable shiver ran down Alec’s spine, but he managed a smile, letting the Seelie move closer. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a warlock watching them and he did his best not to tense, even as the Seelie pulled him closer. 

  
"Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.” 

  
Alec opened his mouth to respond when he heard a sharp whistle echo across the club. He stepped back from the Seelie and shook his head, trying to keep up the facade. "I, I…I’m good,“ he forced himself to stutter. When the Seelie stepped in close again, pulling him in, Alec watched the warlock nearby start to move and growled. 

  
In a quick twist, he had the Seelie over his shoulder and on the floor. He stared down at wide and surprised eyes, narrowing his own. "I said, no,” he added, releasing him, glad the crowd had given him space. He looked around at everyone and took a deep breath, shaking his head and pressing his fingers through his hair. 

  
“Why you little-”

  
“I suggest you leave, now, Aierd,” A smooth voice interjected. "He has said no. Twice, now.“ 

  
Alec was glad when the Seelie scowled at him and melted back into the crowd, turning to look at the person who had stopped there from being a confrontation. It was the warlock who had been watching them! He offered a hand and managed a brief nod. "Thank you, for your help.” 

  
Magnus shook the Shadowhunter’s hand and smirked down at his fingers, appreciating just how big that hand was. "Well, it’s bad for business to have fights breaking out in my club. Magnus Bane, it’s a pleasure to meet you….?“

  
"Alec,” Alec managed to stutter, his eyes wide, realizing this is who he’d sent the fire message to, and the man was _beautiful,_ shining even in the dark light of the club. "Alec, uh, Lightwood.“ 

  
Magnus paused and raised both of his eyebrows. "Acting Head of the Institute Alec Lightwood?”

  
“Yeah,” Alec said, sheepishly pushing his fingers through his hair. "Do you, uh, do you have a private office? We intercepted and prevented the exchange we wanted, but we should probably tell you about it so you can keep an eye out for it.“ 

  
Magnus stared at the Shadowhunter in surprise. "That’s against Clave protocol, Mister Lightwood.” 

  
Alec flushed and cleared his throat. "There are a lot of things that are against Clave protocol. I’m not about to tell them if you aren’t.“ 

  
Magnus studied the man in front of him again. "All right,” he agreed, gesturing to the back of the club. "The staircase there goes to my office. It’ll let you up now. Bring the other two.“ 

  
"Right,” Alec breathed, watching Magnus step into the shadows of the club, disappearing a moment later. He looked down at his hand and saw the faintest shimmer of glitter. He bit down on his lip, just before Izzy crashed into him. 

  
“Way to go, Alec!” she cheered. "I didn’t know you had it in you!“ 

  
"Uh, yeah,” Alec said, clearing his throat. "We, uh. Magnus Bane, he saw us. We need to go talk to him about what happened. He might be able to help prevent the next one.“ 

  
Jace raised his eyebrows. "You want to trust a warlock?” 

  
Alec shrugged. "He could have kicked us out the second we walked in. Seems like it’s a better idea to work with him than not.“ 

  
"Sounds good,” Isabelle said. She gave Alec a gentle shove. "Sure it doesn’t have anything to do with the way that you were staring at his ass as he walked away from you?“ 

  
Alec flushed and glared at his sister. "No!” Maybe only a tiny bit. A _tiny_ bit. 

  
~!~

  
After meeting with Magnus in his office, surprisingly understated and welcoming compared to the rest of his club, explaining the situation and what they needed help with, Alec was surprised to find Magnus in his space again, his fingers slipping a card into one of his pockets before trailing along his belt, making him shudder. 

  
“If you ever need further… _assistance…”_ Magnus teased. "Do feel free to give me a call, Alexander.“ 

  
Summoning his courage when Magnus’ eyes met his again, Alec swallowed hard. "And if it’s for something other than, uh. _Assistance?”_

  
Magnus’ eyes lit up and he smirked. "Well. In that case. Call **soon.“**

  
"Right,” Alec croaked, taking a step back to the door where his siblings were waiting. "I, uh. Right.“ He gave Magnus a weak wave and stumbled back through the door. 

  
And if, later that evening, he called the number on the card, biting his lip as he waited to see if it had just been a joke, a tease, his heart jumped into his throat at the sound of Magnus Bane’s voice. 

  
“Well, well, _well,_ if it isn’t my favorite shadowhunter. To what do I owe the pleasure, Alexander?” 

  
“I wanted to talk to you again,” Alec blurted, wincing at how blunt that was. Izzy would be despairing over him, but at least it made Magnus laugh in what sounded like delight. 

  
Magnus smiled. “What a coincidence. I wanted to talk to you again as well. Preferably without an audience.” 

  
Alec’s eyes widened. “You do?” 

  
Magnus’ voice was quieter and much more sincere when he agreed. “I do, very much.” 

  
“Oh,” Alec whispered, his eyes wide. “Well, uh. Um. I don’t. What…do we talk about?” 

  
Magnus paused and hummed in consideration. “Shall I tell you about my day?” 

  
Alec swallowed hard and sat down on the edge of his bed. “I’d, I’d really like that, Magnus.” 

  
“Excellent!” 

**Author's Note:**

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